Why Nutrition Is Important?
The food choices we make for a living are called nutrition. It is all about eating a healthy and balanced diet. It is a biochemical process by which our body breaks this food into metabolized organisms to create energy and chemical structures. These organisms that are absorbed and metabolized is called nutrition. Our body oxidates food, and this process provides energy. If proper nutrition is not absorbed, the body suffers from malnutrition. Everything we eat and drink provides some sort of nutrition to our body, some in greater quantity and some in less. Consuming food that provides greater nutrition is better for our health.
Why is Nutrition Important?
The right food choice provides the right nutrition and helps keep us healthy. The correct nutrition helps save us from non-communicable diseases like diabetes and blood pressure. It also helps strengthen our immune system, which fights against external enemies like germs and bacteria constantly attacking our bodies. A stronger immune system means a stronger chance to sustain these attacks and remain healthy.
The ability to recover from an illness or an accident depends on the diet we intake. A nutritious diet will help in quicker energy and a faster healing process. People with malnourishment fall ill more quickly than healthy people and take a long time to recover because they do not have the right nourishment to gain health. A healthy, nutritious diet helps keep our minds and body strong, and that helps fight diseases and illnesses. Natural food like fruits and vegetables are high in nutrition, while processed food like burgers and tinned vegetables lose their nutrition and cannot provide the necessary minerals and vitamins that strengthen our immune system. Food’s nutritional value is the value it gives our body in functioning to the optimal. Processed food loses that value while fresh fruits and vegetables maintain it.
Role Of Nutrition
Nutrition plays an important role in our survival. A diet without nutrition will only fill your stomach but give zero benefits to the body. A food’s nutritional value depends upon how it helps strengthen our bodily functions. It has three basic functions:
- Nutrition is supposed to provide energy.
- They contribute to body structure.
- They have to regulate chemical processes in the body.
These functions help us respond to our surroundings. Nutrients can be broken into six classes responsible for the functions and overall health maintenance. These are:
| Protein | It is important for tissue formation, cell reparation, and hormone and enzyme production. It helps build strong muscles and, more importantly, a healthy immune system. |
| Carbohydrates | It is an instant source of energy for the body. |
| Fat | This is the energy stored by the body for future use. It also helps in vital insulating organs and helps maintain body temperature. |
| Vitamins | It helps in promoting normal body temperature and promote normal body functions. |
| Minerals | Responsible for regulating body processes and proper cellular functions. |
| Water | The main function of water is to main body temperature. The other function is to transport essential nutrients to all body parts and to transport waste products for disposal. |
Maintaining a balance of all these nutrients is the cornerstone of good health. With a balanced diet, the body can function properly and fight off diseases because of a stronger immune system. People who do not maintain this balance often experience weaker bodies that are more immune to diseases and illnesses.
Maintaining a balance of all these nutrients is the cornerstone of good health.
The Purpose of Nutrition
The importance of nutrition can be judged by its opposite- malnourishment. A person suffering from malnourishment appears gaunt and can hardly do their work. This is because the body lacks strength to carry out simple tasks. They suffer from various diseases caused due to malnourishment, like osteoporosis, in which the bones become weak and brittle, leading to fractures.
Nutrition is a critical part of human health. Its effects are taken from the point of being an embryo in mother’s womb. If the mother takes a healthy diet, the baby inside her will take effect and be healthy.
The main purpose of nutrition is to nourish the body to grow. The food we take is broken up into a million pieces, and the nutrients are absorbed into the blood and taken to different body parts. A proper supply of these nutrients helps different body parts function properly. For example, a good intake of food rich in iron will help the body make blood that carries other nutrients and oxygen to different body parts. Our bones need a good amount of calcium, and our muscles need vitamins B and D for better growth. The body absorbs these nutrients from the stomach and carries them to different parts of the body.
How Do People Benefit from A Healthy Nutritional Diet?
A healthy nutritional diet can be defined as a diet that is the perfect balance of all the nutrients required. Different foods contain different minerals and vitamins. For example, meat contains proteins and enzymes, while leafy vegetables contain the required vitamins and minerals. These can be combined for a balanced meal. Our body requires all of these in a certain amount. This is why maintaining a balance is required. On the other hand, food rich in carbohydrates and fats leads to obesity and other preventive diseases like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
Conclusion
We all love to eat fast food, which is full of carbs and calories. They do not contain the essential nutrition our bodies require to stay healthy. We do not need to give up entirely all of these; we need to find a balance between a a healthy diet and the food we love. You can get some nutritional journals that will guide you on how much of each essential nutrition we require and break up your diet into a week and dedicate yourself to a cheat day, in which you can eat what you like. This way, you will remain healthy yet able to eat what you like. Remember, a nutritional diet is a balanced diet. Learn to create that balance.
